Page 167 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

I heard steps going down the hallway late at night and guessed it was Cade. Minutes later, I heard them walk back down the hallway with urgency. My phone was on silent, and it lit up over and over as he looked for me. Text messages came through and I ignored them, too.

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but just as I was dozing off, I felt someone pushing through the mind-link.

‘Fire in the cellar!’

I bolted out of the room. I ran down the stairs two at a time, almost falling down when I stepped on the edge of one. My ankle stung, but I ran out of the pack house as fast as my feet would take me.

Several people were running toward the wine cellar. Eric was a few hundred yards in front of me, trying to get to the building. Flames were licking at the few windows above ground. My heart sank as I watched the first one shatter under the heat.

‘Wait, Eric don’t go in there,’I warned him. If the fire was intense enough to shatter windows, it had the potential to cause him a lot of damage.

‘It can’t reach the wi—’

An explosion sent both of us and a few people behind me flying back. I landed hard on my back, my head hitting the solid ground beneath me. I shook my head to clear the stars dancing in my vision, and scrambled to my feet.

“Eric!” I screamed, trying to find where he landed.

Coyo pushed forward so she could enhance my eyesight, and I saw his slumped body against some dry stalks of grapes.

Goddess, that’s really far,I thought and began to run toward him.

I didn’t like how he wasn’t moving. I couldn’t see if he was breathing. The damage to his body became more evident the closer I got and by the time I got to him, I knew he was dead. I even hoped so. I sank down beside him, not daring to touch him. If he was alive, touching him would be so painful. Burns covered his body, blood oozing from various places.

I dared place my fingers on his jugular, and sobbed when I felt no heartbeat. At least he died quickly. I stood and checked on the rest of the people who had been running behind me. A few sprained wrists and head wounds. Nothing that required serious medical attention.

I finally turned back to the wine cellar. It was engulfed in flames, any chance that anything could be saved went up with the explosion, along with any chance of saving my pack and the tatters of my life. As we watched, people began to gather around us as we watched it burn in silence.

“Bells! Bells!” I heard Cade calling from behind me, but I was unable to tear my eyes away as I watched my life go up in flames before me.

“Over there!” I was surprised to hear my sister’s voice. I turned around to make sure she was okay and watched her pushing people aside to get to me. “Goddess, I thought something happened to you. What happened?” She hugged me tightly when she reached me.

“The wine blew up.” My voice sounded odd, even to myself. I felt numb. “Eric is dead.”

“Your friend that taught you how to run the vineyard?” she asked, pulling back.

“Yes, my friend,” I answered, as I felt Cade’s hand on my shoulder.

Tears left my eyes as I realized Eric was my friend. He was my friend even though he never even called me by my name. One of the few I ever had here.

“Should we call the fire department?” John asked.

“No. Let it burn. It’s all gone, anyway,” I answered.

“Don’t you need it for insurance?”

“No. There are cameras everywhere.” I pulled on my gift and covered the entire building in a dirt grave to suffocate the fire, along with my dreams. “I need to get Eric, and get him ready.”

“Let us do that, Bells,” Cade replied, squeezing my shoulder.

I wanted him to hug me right now, but after how we left everything, I didn’t blame him. At least I could take comfort in the hold Violet had around me. But, even though I wantednothing more than to curl into a ball and have her continue to hold me, I pulled away.

“No. Eric was my friend. I’ll do it.” I lifted Eric in my arms, walking toward where Cade, John, Violet and Chris were still waiting.

“Alpha Cade,” someone called out.

“Yes?”

“Can I join your pack?”

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